Charles Eversfield (15 September1683 – 1749) of Denne Place, near Horsham, Sussex, was a British Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1705 and 1747.

Early life

Eversfield was the only son. of Nicholas Eversfield of Charlton Court, near Steyning, Sussex and his wife, Elizabeth Gildridge, daughter of Nicholas Gildridge of Eastbourne, Sussex. In 1684, he succeeded to the estates of his father. He married Mary Duncombe, daughter of Henry Duncombe of Weston, Surrey on 21 July 1702.

Career

Denn Place (Denne Park) by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm 1788

In 1695, Eversfield inherited the estate of Denne from his uncle

Anthony Eversfield Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...

and with it an electoral interest at

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. As soon as he came of age, he successfully contested Horsham at the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of " Church in Danger" occurring in several boroughs. During the pr ...

, being listed as a ‘Churchman’. He was relatively inconspicuous in his first Parliament but voted against the Court candidate for Speaker on 25 October 1705. He was returned again for Horsham, as a Tory at the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

. He acted as a teller on 8 March 1709 against the election of Thomas Meredyth for Midhurst and voted against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, he was returned for both Horsham and for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and chose to sit for Sussex. In this Parliament he was one of the spokesmen for the October Club. He obtained a place as Paymaster and treasurer of Ordnance in 1712. He was returned again at the 1713 but lost his place as Paymaster on George I's accession in 1714. At the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

, he was defeated at Sussex and was unseated on petition at Horsham on 16 June 1715. He was therefore left without a seat. He came to an agreement with his opponents, the Ingrams, to share the representation of Horsham and he was returned there unopposed at a by-election on 12 June 1721. He was returned for Horsham at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

and went over to the Government. He spoke for them in an army debate on 26 October 1722. He was returned again For Horsham in 1727 and 1734. He then voted regularly with the government and helped the Duke of Newcastle in county elections. In 1737 he sold his burgages at Horsham to the Ingrams, and in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

was returned as MP for

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the ...

, continuing to vote with the Government. He was classed as an Old Whig in 1746, and did not stand in 1747.

Later life and legacy

Eversfield made a second marriage on 9 August 1731, to Henrietta Maria Lady Jenkinson, widow of Sir Robert Jenkinson, 3rd Baronet and daughter of Charles Scarborough of Windsor, Berkshire. He died on 17 June 1749 leaving a son and four daughters by his first wife and two illegitimate daughters. His eldest son Charles succeeded to a

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

created for Henry Fermor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eversfield, Charles 1683 births 1749 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747